Nevermind the fact that many of the area’s residents are elderly folks who depend upon the public transport to access shops and entertainment in the city. Lord Mayor Clover Moore is fighting back to reestablish this original route for those residents.

“This is Australia’s most densely populated area, with over 1000 people living along the loop. Many residents are over 65 years of age and rely on buses in the hilly terrain. They live in historic apartments without parking space and depend on public transport,” she explained.

“This area has one of Sydney’s lowest rates of private vehicle ownership and should not be sacrificed in favour of services in other areas or less administration. People living more sustainably at high densities without cars must be supported with usable public transport.”

I agree. It’s not like these services were cut due to underuse. How can we encourage people to ditch their cars and hop on public transport if it’s simply not available? Hopefully Ms Moore makes some headway on this important issue soon!

Image source: Ben Cumming @ Flickr

The people of Manek Urai will also decide if they want a fish monger or a Kesedar project monitoring division manager as their representative in the Kelantan State Assembly.

Good luck to Manek Urai folks! Vote wisely!

Image credit: Laman Blog PRK Manek Urai

Photo Credit: alexdecarvalho @ flickr

Do your friends always comment that your cocktails are some of the best around? Can you muddle, shake and pour with the best of them? As part of SUSHISAMBA’s 10 year anniversary celebration and July’s Cocktail Month, SUSHISAMBA has partnered up with Leblon Cachaca to find Miami’s most talented mixologist.

On July 23, 2009, from 1:00 - 3:00 pm, twenty aspiring mixologists will stir up up as they compete to make the summer’s most creative cocktail. Each contestant will get 10 ingredients plus Leblon Cachaca and 15 minutes of time to design the perfect cocktail. After being judged by an expert team, five contestants will move on to compete in Round 2. These contestants will be given another set of fresh ingredients plus 1 secret ingredient. The winning cocktail will become SUSHISAMBA dromo’s official Sambatini for the Miami locale during the month of August.

The winner will receive some nice prizes including:

Do you have what it takes? Call 305.673.5337 to enter as a participant.

For someone who really doesn’t love graffiti, I found this fascinating.  You might too.

Graffiti Taxonomy: Paris, 2009 from Evan Roth on Vimeo.

Additional information:

Today and Tomorrow.com Graffiti Taxonomy: Paris

Fondation Cartier:  Evan Roth

Share This

8 places are mentioned in this post!

Space Needle

The Space Needle, a 605 ft high telecommunications tower, has become the

EMP

Crocodile Cafe

Microsoft Corporation

null

Market Theater

null

Post Alley

null

Pike Place Market, Seattle, WA

null

Market Theater

null

View Details on the Map

Click on the place name to learn more

Close

I’m pretty proud about living in Seattle.  It’s green, clean, politically and socially moderate, and other than the fact that it rains so much, it’s a pretty great place to live.

But we’re also a little quirky.  And the same quirkiness that led to the Space Needle, the EMP (Experience Music Project), the Crocodile Cafe, Amazon, Microsoft and grunge music, also led to the Gum Wall.

The Gum Wall is located in Post Alley at the Pike Place Market.  Right outside the Market Theater (map).  It’s been around since the mid-1990’s when patrons who had lined up for tickets would stick their gum to the wall.  That’s gross!  But before you knew it, lots and lots of people were sticking their gum to the wall.  Double, triple gross!

On a couple of occasions the Market told the theater to remove and clean the wall.  And they did.  And the gum kept coming back.  Gross again!  Somewhere in the midst of all this grossness, the gum wall took on a life on its own and became a genuine tourist attraction, albeit a gross one, and now no effort is made to clean it up.

Those of us who live here try hard to forget about the gum wall.  We might have succeeded had it not been for a recent Trip Advisor list ranking the Gum Wall #2 on the list of Most Unsanitary Attractions.  (The Blarney Stone ranked #1.)

Visitors to the city actually WANT to visit the gum wall?  Call it an attraction, if you must, or do as some do and call it interactive art.  Either way, I just call it gross!

What do you think?  Have you been to the Gum Wall?  Or maybe you’ve stuck a piece of gum to the wall yourself?

Photo credit:  ChrisYunker @flickr

One of the perks of living in the city is having a plethora of cultural activities available on any given night. The price one pays for this entertainment is living in the noise, hustle and yes, pollution, but maybe it’s worth it?

Barcelona has music happening every night of the week, and sometimes it’s downright hard to choose what to do; there are so many options! However, if you’re going out this week head over to Apolo 2 and see Luz Verde, a group which promises to put on a good show packed with lots of energy and a sound that could be labeled as Barcelona Indie rock.

The band is from Venezuela but its members have lived here in Barcelona for some time now, continuously touring between Spain and Latin America. They recently put out a new album called Manual de Buenas Costumbres and I expect many songs from this new release will be played this coming Thursday. If you can’t catch them this week, Luz Verde will be playing throughout the summer in Barcelona, so check their web for dates.

See more on Luz Verde at:

Band’s Web

Myspace to take a listen…

Concert at Sala Apolo 2

Post from: The Barcelona Guide

If you’ve read your Regency romances you know eighteenth century London was full of vice. Rakes, lechers, and undesirable young marquises, all lying in wait for an innocent girl…

And you probably know about the Hellfire Club, too (though it is a little earlier than the Regency, dating from the 1740s). I can’t make my mind up about this club. Was it really a revolutionary outpost of sexual freedoms and Satanic or at least Pagan explorations, à la Marquis de Sade? Or a rather sad club for tired old swingers?

Some of the accounts sound as if they had rather schoolboyish fun mounting mock religious ceremonies such as the worship of a Christmas Pudding. But there were also rumours of orgies, with loose women imported from London brothels, black masses, and pornographic entertainments.

Sir Francis Dashwood, who owned the fine Palladian mansion at West Wycombe, set the club up, and embarked on a campaign of building monuments, including the amazing caves, which adapted earlier chalk mines, and a strange polygonal colonnaded mausoleum, as well as numerous follies. It’s said that the golden ball on top of the church spire was set up by him as a secret gambling den - the hollow ball is large enough to hold six people, quite adequate for a card party.

The caves are an intriguing relic of the Hellfire Club. Sir Francis fitted them out for parties (or orgies, depending on whose accounts you believe), and they’ve subsequently been fitted up with waxworks and tableaux showing what might have gone on here (omitting the more pornographic activities, though).  Actually I think the waxworks are rather naff, but the caves themselves are intriguing and atmospheric.

West Wycombe is definitely worth a visit - in a future post, I’ll be looking at the house and the church, with their Hellfire associations.

When: 11-1730 daily (summer season, April- October)

Where: West Wycombe (just off the A40, or bus from High Wycombe station, 4 miles away)

How much: £5 adult, £4 concessions (student, child, 60+ and National Trust members)

Photo by Andy G on flickr

The expected four film schedule for presentation over the 2009 summer kicks off with the 1977 Steven Spielberg classic story of extraterrestrial visitors, Close Encounters of the Third Kind on July 20, 2009.

Staring Richard Dreyfess as the telephone lineman who has an unexplainable encounter with a UFO and then becomes increasingly obsessed about reaching Devils Tower in Wyoming while his wife, played by Teri Garr, think he has lost his marbles.

Additional screenings are planned for July 27, August 3, and August 10, 2009, but the schedule has yet to be released.

Bring a blanket and a picnic and stake out your territory early, as space tends to fill early.  And give yourself about 100 feet from the screen so you don’t end up with a stiff neck at the end of the show.

Screen on the Green Between 4th & 7th Streets and Madison & Jefferson Aves., NW, on the National Mall  Washington, DC

Dates & Times – Mondays – July 20, 27, August 3 and 10, 2009 at  8:00 p.m. (or sunset)

Admission - FREE

Nearest Metro Subway Station - Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter – yellow and Green lines, or Federal Center SW – Blue and Orange line, then a 4-block walk, or use the DC Circulator bus.

Parking - Limited metered street parking and area paid garage parking is available.

Images - Flickr – Screen on the Green

______________________________________________________

Hackney is as gritty and urban as it gets. Tatty secondhand shops, mechanics’ yards in the backstreets, tower blocks and grim terraces. Fields of Athenrye it ain’t.

Except that this summer, there’s wheat growing in the fields off Dalston Lane.

It’s part of the Barbican’s exhibition ‘Radical Nature’ and it’s intended to highlight the divergence between our urban culture and the rural hinterland that feeds it. (There’s also interesting economics behind it - the value of the land is so much greater than the value of what we can grow on it that it’s become, in a way, a purely speculative currency - we can’t afford to eat.)

The Dalston Mill has taken over disused railway tracks to create a wheatfield, a mill and bakery.

There are frequent events (the full list is on the web page). Bake your own currency - which you can then spend in the Mill. African cooking, theatre and drumming. Cake decorating and talks about architecture. It all seems slightly mad and hugely varied - and almost all the events are free. There’s a bar open in the evenings too, making this not just an art exhibition but potentially your new local pub for a month.

Where: off Dalston Lane (Dalston Kingsland railway station)

When: 2-10 pm every day till 6 August

How much: free

Photo by Meena Kadri on flickr

Jericho Beach

Take yourself down to beautiful Jericho Beach next weekend for a banquet of toe-tapping, groovy music at the 32nd annual Vancouver Folk Music Festival

From Roots, Flk, World, Blues, Bluegrass and much more, you’ll be entertained for the whole weekend outdoors in this beautiful park setting by the sea.  Bring a blanket and a picnic lunch’ don’t forget your bathing suit so you can stop for a swim during the day on Jericho’s wide stretch of sandy beach.

The beach at Jericho

Dozens of the worlds best musicians will particpate at this festival so you won’t want to miss it!  Pick up your program and tickets on site or by contacting the Vancouver Folk Music Festival Society

PHONE: 604-602-9798.  Buy your tickets online, by phone, fax by mail or in person at the VFMF Box Office

415 Dunsmuir St.; By mail: Vancouver Folk Music Festival,  Suite 468- 411 Dunsmuir St. Vancouver

FAX 604-602-9790    or email:  info@thefestival.bc.ca

ADULTS: Advance to July 16: $140.00  at the Gate: $165  (for the weekend)   Single date tickets available.

STUDENTS:  (student ID required) Advance to July 16 @ $85   at the Gate: $95

YOUTH: 13- 18  (ID required) Advance to July 16 $63  at the Gate: $73

Kids under 12 admitted free with an adult.

Festival site, Jericho

THE 22nd ANNUAL MISSION FOLK MUSIC FESTIVAL:   JULY 24-26

For some fantastic world music in a beautiful small-town setting,  check out the Mission Folk Music Festival in the Fraser River Heritage Park, Mission B.C.  22 groups and artists from Nunavut to Neoneli, Basel to Bellingham, Montreal to Mexico City will gather for a weekend of music and fun.  The Festival and Small Town Heart welcomes you as well as extraordinary groups from around the world.

The Fraser River Heritage Park is located just east of MIssion B.C. in the Fraser Valley an hours drive from Vancouver or Bellingham.  Check the Festival’s website for detailed directions.  You can also take the West Coast Express from Vancouver and stay the weekend.  There is camping on-site @ $20 per adult for weekend and other amenities. For local accomodations check with Mission Visitor Info Centre or  Abbotsford Visitor Centre

This is a beautiful outdoor setting overlooking the river.  For a day in the outdoors bring along insect repellent, sun hat and sunscreen, warm clothes for evening, waterproof ground cover and rain gear (just in case).  Low-back chairs or blankets for sitting.  No alcohol, audio, video recording or non-service pets allowed on site.

PURCHASE TICKETS ON-LINE, BY PHONE OR IN PERSON

604-826-5937/ 1-8666-494-FOLK (3655)  Advance tickets available until July 23.

F

Post from: The Vancouver Guide

1 places are mentioned in this post!

Multatulimuseum

View Details on the Map

Click on the place name to learn more

Close

Multatuli Museum is Amsterdam’s tiniest museum, just one room. Multatuli, pen name for Eduard Douwes Dekker was born here in 1820. He worked as a colonial official in the Dutch East Indies and is best known for his novel Max Havelaar in which he described relations between the Dutch and the natives.

But graft and corruption left him disillusioned. He returned to Amsterdam and wrote Max Havelaar, which made him famous overnight. Not only is it a highly critical work it, he also broke literary conventions. He told the story from several points of view and many readers complained that the structure was a mess.

The museum chronicles Douwes Dekker’s life and works. The one room is cluttered with letters, first editions and artefacts from his life, many from the East Indies (now Indonesia). His pen lies ready on his desk to be used. A bookcase bulging with books lines the wall. Near the window stands his chaise longue.

If you want to see what the man himself looked like, go to Torensluis, a continuation of Korsjespoortsteeg. Torensluis is the widest bridge in Amsterdam and adorned with a huge bust of Multatuli, which is Latin for; I suffered much.

Multatuli Museum Korsjespoortsteeg 20 Amsterdam

Tuesday 10.00 – 17.00 Saturday and Sunday 12.00 – 17.00

photo credit: personal collection

Post from: The Amsterdam Guide

Chef Hidetoshi Tsuboi combines the traditional flavours of the East with contemporary Western techniques. While the cuisine is ultimately Japanese, his experience working at Italian, Chinese, Japanese, and other South-East Asian restaurants shines through. “My familiarity with these diverse cooking-styles allows me to really fuse ingredients, techniques and presentation from different cuisines,” Chef Hidetoshi explained.

Chef Hidetoshi loves fresh, local produce, and he serves up some real treats. Right now we get to enjoy seasonal Japanese veggies like shiso leaves and gobo, sourced directly from a farmer in Byron Bay.

The dishes are meant to be shared, and offer something for carnivores and vegetarians alike. The Monkey Magic Sushi Platter is a real experience, with each nigiri dressed with a complementary dipping sauce. I also love the sound of the crab leaves: premium crab meat bedded on a betel leave with just a hint of spice. The monkey that gives the restaurant its name would be impressed with the banana and white chocolate shiso harumaki dessert. If you’re feeling hungry, the $45 five-course set menu is a fantastic option.

The Eastern influence is also felt in the drinks list, which includes traditional Asian cocktails and some Western favourites. There’s also a diverse selection of local and European wines, and of course some sake for that authentic Japanese experience.

Trading hours: 6 pm to 10 pm Mondays to Saturdays Location: Monkey Magic Address: 3 & 4, 410 Crown Street, Surry Hills Public transport: Catch the #393 bus from Central Station, or the #301 or #303 from Circular Quay to Crown Street Parking: Limited street parking available Cost: Appetisers from $4, large dishes from $17 Website: http://www.monkeymagic.com.au/

Image used with permission from Wasamedia

1 places are mentioned in this post!

Summer Shack

"The Summer Shack is a fun, casual, restaurant. Specializing in New England

View Details on the Map

Click on the place name to learn more

Close

Get a taste of a Cape Cod vacation while in the city. Jasper White’s Summer Shack (50 Dalton St., Boston, 617-67-9955) (Map) is one of Boston’s favorite seafood emporiums- and  always a  jumping joint. Summer Shack evokes the feel of a  New England seafood shanty- complete with kraft paper-covered tables, black board specials, and a fun vibe.

Go-to dishes include the pan-roasted lobster, the lobster roll (one of the best in town!) and the fried whole belly Ipswich clams. There are grilled  and broiled fish specials too- that change depending on the “catch of the day”. Light eaters have options here -  the “Be Good to Yourself”  special features an omega-rich grilled fish with a mixed green salad and brown rice. The sides suggest a New England Sunday supper-baked beans, grilled brown bread, clam chowder. 

The servers are extremely cheery-no matter how crowded it gets with tourists or fans before Red Sox home games. Summer Shack is a great choice for families too- little ones will happily nosh on the kids’ menu offerings of corn dogs, mac and cheese, and soft serve ice cream. 

Image Credit: Personal Collection

Post from: The Boston Guide

Consider the following…

photo credit: Coin jar, flickr, creative commons by carvalho

Think close to home: Even if you don’t live in a “green city” you likely still have local attractions, or at least in-state attractions that your family would enjoy. Start at your local city, then state travel / tourist websites to check out what’s available near you. By sticking close to home you’ll save money and save travel emissions created by cars or planes.

Think outside entertainment: Hiking, camping, even river rafting are all lower cost vacations that swooping into a new far off city. Your family will get a taste of nature appreciation and your wallet won’t suffer.

Think trains: Trains offer economical travel with a lower carbon footprint than a plane or car. PLUS kids + trains equal instant fun. When you travel somewhere by train the ride is part of the fun.

Think little green bus: The Green Tortoise offers total adventure eco-vacations - cool nature destinations, low carbon transport, organic meals, and they’re family friendly.

Think small: Green travel is sometimes thought of as a grand event - oh, I’m off to the greenest city or I’m headed to this killer eco-hut adventure tour. However, those sorts of green travel ideals can be costly. Incorporating green actions into your traveling plan - i.e. reusable water bottles, recycling, supporting local organic restaurants, reusing your towel at the hotel, buying less junky plastic souvenirs, or cleaning up your campsite before you leave it are all ways that a typical vacation becomes greener. Most of these choices naturally save you money too.

Do you have some budget friendly - earth-friendly travel ideas? Share in the comments…

[image via stock.xchng]

Affordable, fun and good for your health, these tours tend to introduce you to stories, colorful characters and other background information that locals tend to only know.

And summer is typically the best time to participate in one of the many guided walking tours in the South.

Here’s a quick look at some of the tours around the region.

photo credit: Sneakers for sneaking, flickr, creative commons by arlette

1 places are mentioned in this post!

Historic Fort Steilacoom

null

View Details on the Map

Click on the place name to learn more

Close

Details:  Fort Steilacoom was one of the first military forts built north of the Columbia River, and was originally founded by the US Army.  It played a significant part in the settling of the Washington Territory, leading up to our eventual statehood.

Today, most of the former Fort Steilacoom grounds are part of Western State Hospital.  However, there is still a preserved area that is open for tours, and you can take a look at four quarters and how they may have looked back in the 1800’s.

Fort Steilacoom is located at 9601 Steilacoom Boulevard in Lakewood (map).

Photo credit: pfly @flickr

There are many free performances at the park.  Come out and make a day of it.  The gates just opened up and will go through.  One of the free concerts today is Dennis DeYoung formally of the Styx.  He is on from 7:30-9pm.

Photo Credit:  Photobucket

The gates will open up here at noon in about a half hour and will go all day till 9:30pm or so (smile).  There will be good food and I mean some really good food.   Don’t eat before you go.  If you do, just get some tasty desserts.  And the music is outstanding.  There are two stages, a kids tent and dancing tent.  You will find me in the dancing tent.  I love music and dance and combining the two makes me so happy.  The Welles Park gazebo will also have some entertainment.  You get the idea.  It’s a large festival with lots of fun.

It’s $8 to get in, $4 for seniors and kids.  The fee helps support the festival each year and school programs.  Come on out and join in on the fun.

1 places are mentioned in this post!

San Diego Convention Center

View Details on the Map

Click on the place name to learn more

Close

Comic-Con International at the San Diego Convention Center [Map] celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2009 with more provocative work than ever before.

Comic-Con 2009

Comic-Con is definitely an event - with celebrity panels, people in costumes, way-early preview screeings, and row after row of graphic novel vendors, artists and comic culture fanatics are what’s in the Convention Center. There’s so much to do, it’s hard to even give recommendations! I personally will be at the New Moon panel on Thursday, and will hit up some of the other panels and events the remainder of the days. You can visit their website for all the events and details!

Visitors can be Super Man or Wonder Woman for a day (or at least pretend to be!) at Comic-Con on July 23 – 26, at the San Diego Convention Center. The event is the largest comics and pop culture event in the United States, attracting thousands of artists, celebrities and fans of comic books, movie memorabilia and all things related to pop culture.

Comic-Con Event Schedule

Preview night: Wednesday July 22, 6 to 9 p.m. * Open to pre-registered attendees with a four-day pass

Exhibit Hall hours: Thursday July 23, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday July 24 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday July 25 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday July 26 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Unfortunately the event is already sold out, but it’s never too early to make plans for next year!

Post from: The San Diego Guide